The Detroit Pistons almost didn’t have enough players for a team in their loss to the Denver Nuggets.
The Pistons sent out a squad with 24-year-old Josh Jackson as their oldest player, and the “veteran” led the tank, missing all seven of his 3-point attempts on a night where the Pistons could have built another Palace out of their bricks (more on this in a minute).
There weren’t many bright spots in a game Detroit clearly needed to lose, but there were two aspects of the loss that should give fans of the Pistons some hope for the future.
Here are three takeaways from an ugly loss.
Detroit Pistons: The Pistons can’t shoot
When I was going through the Pistons biggest offseason needs, I was tempted just to write SHOOTING and leave it at that.
The Detroit Pistons only had eight guys and lost one of them to injury at halftime, so it’s not like they were rolling with their best, but WOW.
The Pistons made 6-of-37 from 3-point range for an embarrassing 16.2 percent, or roughly what I would shoot if Kawhi Leonard were guarding me in a pickup game.
SIXTEEN PERCENT! To say this team needs to find some shooters is an understatement. Josh Jackson missed all seven of his attempts, Hamidou Diallo and Killian Hayes joined him, missing all of their combined 11 attempts. Normally reliable Saddiq Bey made just 2-of-10 and even center Jahlil Okafor, not wanting to be left out, went 0-for-2 from long range.
But it didn’t stop there.
The Detroit Pistons also missed six free throws, another problem that has plagued them all year. This is a young team that can defend and has some exciting talent, but they are not going to make the leap into the playoffs next season unless they get some consistent shooting, it’s that simple.